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PIONEER PREPARATION 

AND SPINNING 

OE 

FLAX AND WOOIv, 

Mll,0 CUSTKR. 

Bl^OOMINGTON, iLIylNOIS. 

1912. 



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THE PREPARATION AND SPINNING OF FLAX AND WOOL. 
As Practiced By The Pioneers Of Central Illinois And Demonstrated 
*. By Pioneer Men And Women At Meetings Of The McLean County 

Historical Society. 

By Mii,o Custer. 
( Custodian, McLean County Historicai, Society. ) 

'j Bl^OOMINGTON , IlWNOIS, 

1912. 
I I; Wool. 

jVfter it was sheared from the sheep the wool was carefully and thoroughly 
^vashed and picked apart to free it of all dirt and extraneous matter, 
^hen came the carding process accomplished by means of the hand wool-cards • 
fhese are a pair of small thin boards each about 5 by 10 inches in size, covered 
pn one side with leather into which many small, sHghtly curved, well tempered 
^re hooks or .'teeth' each about half an inch long are securely fastened at even 
[distances of one -fourth or one -half of an inch apart. 

Small wooden handles 5. or 6 inches long are attached at the middle of one side 
jO each 'card' somewhat in the fashion of a curry-comb, 
pe small hooks are all turned back toward the handles and the two cards are 
|x:act duplicates of each other. 

ihe operator will begin by 'filling' one of the cards with wool, holding the card 
^^mally in the left hand, the handle pointing outward, the back of the card 
Ijing across the wrist, then taking a small handful of wool in the right hand, 
ajid drawuig it gently over and agamst the hooks, wiH distribute it as evenly as 
possible, and impale it firmly upon them . 

'/hen with the other card in the right hand, the handles of the cards in opposite 
(directions , the operator wiU draw it fkmly over the other cardful of wool, puU- 
.ji>g the hooks against each other, and repeating this operation until the wool is 
about evenly distributed upon the hooks of both cards, is finely combed and 
thoroughly free of small knots and lumps. 

T^en reversing the position of the card in the right hand, the operator will 
p/ace the 'heel' of it against the 'toe' of the other card , draw it firmly across a 
f|W times, releasing the wool from the hooks of first one card then the other, 
a!id thus the 'roll' is formed. 

^isually, if a single roll for spinning fine thread for weaving purposes is desired, 
tie wool from each card was rolled separately , but if a heavier roll for yam was 
J anted, then the wool from both cards was rolled together. 
j method of making these roUs more compact was practiced by rolling them 
l^tween the backs of the cards. Another method of accompUshing this object 
jas to lengthen the roUs by carefuUy stretching them a small portion at a time 
-jalways taking care not to break them, ) then rolling them between the pahns 
/i the hands. 



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The desired quantity of rolls prepared, the operator is ready for the spinning . 

In this country wool was generally spun with the large wheels, though in a few 

instances the small wheel was fitted with a wool spindle, while I have seen onej 

pioneer German woman spin wool rolls with the "flyers" on the small wheel. 

Twisting one end of a roll with the fingers and fastening it firmly upon the spin- 

-die (of the large wheel) at the inner end, the operator with turning-stick in the- 

right hand ( usually ) and pressed firmly against one of the spokes near the rim 

with the free end of the roll in the left hand, held firmly but gently, outward, al 

anns length and at an acute angle from the wheel, will gfive the wheel a fe^ 

swift turns, step quickly back and outward , pulling gently on the roll at the 

same time , and thus twist it into the desired thread or yarn , rapidly and[ 

expeditiously . Then bringing in the thread parallel with the wheel , a fe^ 

more turns winds it securely upon the spindle , care being taken not to wind it tc^ 

close the point, lest fmlher spinning be interfered with. 

Then attaching another roll to the first by twisting the ends together with tW 

fingers, the work may be continued indefinitely. f 

The amateur will observe that the rapid revolutions of the spindle as the wheel L 

tvamed causes the roll to twist as it flips off the point and that no twisting is don<> 

by the fingers except in joining the rolls together. 

The proper amount of carding as well as the correct degree of pulling or drawing 

out of the rolls when spun, regelates to a great extent the quality of the finisheci 

product. Much depends also upon the quality of the wool. 

When fine woolen thread for woof (or , 'filling" ) was desired, a smaU piece (}f 

hollow reed cane, alder or sumac from which the pith had been removed, calle^ 

a "quill" or even a small piece of com husk three or four inches in length wi^g 

first placed upon or around the spindle, leaving the point clear, and upon this tl,^ 

finished thread was wound as each roll was spun. 

When it was filled this quill - full of thread could be slipped off and placed up<jjj 

the wooden pin of the shuttle at the loom, ready for weaving linsey - woolsey 

jeans, or woolen coverlet. A large number of these quills were filled and thro^ 

into some convenient receptacle, from which they were taken as needed in wea^ . 

-ing. 

When yam for knitting purposes was spun no quiU was used , but the f inis\g^ 

product was wound directly off the spindle, and upon the "check" reel and tl^g 

measured uito "hanks" or skeins. 

Some of these reels "check" or click at every 50 yards, some at 120, at 140, a^^ 

some at 160 yards. 

Sometimes two threads were twisted together after they were spun . This v^ 

called * 'double - twisting'. 

There was, doubtless, more or less, some minor variations of these methof«j. 

Those who study pioneer industries may sometimes see actual demonstrations^f 

primitive wool carding and spinning at Historical Society meetings or old settltfg 

gatherings, and any such opportunities should never be neglected . » 



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II; FIrAX. 

Wlien it was fuUy matured , generally in the month of September in Cei.tral 
Illinois, flax was pulled up, tied with a stalk or two into small bundles, stacked 
into small shocks and left thus for a few days until the seed was dry enough to 
be threshed out , which was done usually with the flail , but was sometimes 
accomplished by whipping the heads of the flax over the end of a hardwood 
board on which long slender teeth had been sawed out and whittled. 
The threshing finished , the flax stalks were spread out carefulty o\-er the 
ground and left for a few weeks xmtil a rain or two or several heavj'^ dews had 
fallen upon them , partly decaying them and thus loosening the fibre , 
In some cases this "rotting" process was hastened by submerging the stalks r.i 
shallow water at the edge of some convenient pond or stream . This was called 
"water - rotting" in distinction from the other process called "dew-rottir.g". 
The rotting process completed , the mass of flax stalks are taken up and thor - 
- oughly dried, sometimes upon a wooden rack over a slow fire . This greatly 
facilitates the "breaking" which follows . 

The primitive flax-break used by our eai'Iy settlers, was constructed somewhat f__ 
in the following manner ; Either five or seven, -always an uneven number-, 
of wooden slats or blades , each about five or six feet in length, five or six 
inches in width, and about an inch thick, (resembling the now obsolete v/ooden 
bed-slats of a few decades ago ) , were sharpened along one edge , "shoulders" 
cut in each end, then divided into two sets, two blades for the upper and three 
for the lower, or three for the upper and four for the lower set , as the case 
might be . The ends of these blades were then mortised securely into four 
massive wooden "head-pieces". The two sets were hinged together at one end 
in some primitive fashion, sometimes with leather hinges , the sharpened edges 
set towards and passing each other like scissors blades. 

Into the lower pair of head -pieces four wooden legs were set, two at each end , 
each about three feet in length. A handle by which to raise and lower the 
upper set of blades was fastened into the upper front head piece . 
These head -pieces were generally solid blocks of oak some 6 by 8 by lo inches, 
the upper one in front differing slightly from the others , in that it was cut out 
higher at the top, in a pyramid-shaped form, thus leaving a projection into 
which the handle could be fastened . sometimes both upper head-pieces were 
made in this fashion , and the handle was made longer , extending from one to 
the other, the full length of the blades. 

The operator standing beside this apparatus with a large handful of "rotted"' 
-■'^.d well dried flax -stalks in one hand , the handle of the "break" in the other 
hajiid , will proceed to chop the stalks to pieces , shifting them back and forth 
ac/ross the edges of the lower set of blades as the upper set is raised and low- 
ered. 

Tljiis process breaks the stalks into small bits , but does not injure the fibre. 



Following the breaking came the "scutching" process. A hardwood Voard 
some three feet long ten or twelve inches wide and an inch thick was stood on 
end, securely braced at the bottom, and the top shaved to a dull edge with th^ 
draw-knife. This was called the "scutching-board". 

Then the operator with a large handful of the broken flax iu one hand held bj'^ 
o le end over the top of the board and hangmg down at one side , and with a 
large wooden knife called a scutching-knife or scutching-paddle, in the other 
hand, will proceed to strike downwards and slantwise with the edge of the 
kiiif e against the flax which is turned several times and the operation repeateoi 
until most of the broken pieces of stalks or "shives" [short *i'] as they were 
called , were knocked out and the fibre was ready for the next process, called 
hackling. 

The hackle is a short piece of hardwood board some ten or twelve inches long, 
five or six inches wide and an inch thick, with a hundred or more sharp point- 
- ed iron spikes or "teeth" three or four inches in length, set in a gfroup in the 
middle of one side. ^ 

Then with a handful of the long coarse flax fibre in one hand , one end wrap - 
-ped aro'ond the wrist, the greater part of it hanging free, the hackle fastened 
in some secure position at any convenient height, and with the spikes pointing 
upward, the operator will bring the bunch of fibre down upon the sharp points 
repeatedly , pulling it through them, until it is torn very fine and is ready 
for spinning. Two grades of hackles, the coarse and the fine, were sometimes 
used . After the hackling the fibre was twisted into ' 'knots' ' or hanks and laid 
aside, ready for the wheel . 

Next a hank of flax fibre is spread loosely around the 'rocket' or distaff of the 
small wheel, the ends loosened, a few fibres pulled downward, twisted together 
with the fingers , threaded through the eye of the ''flyers" brought up over 
one of the hooks, then fastened upon the spool. 

The expert operator seated in a chair beside the wheel, one foot on the treadle 
the fingers of both hands rapidly lengthening , evening and guiding the strand 
as it t\vists when the wheel is turned , in a few minutes will fUl the sp«x>l vsith 
fine linen thread . A sufficient number of spools filled , they could then be 
placed upon the spool -rack , the product transferred to the "warping -bars" 
and from thence to the loom. 

DEFINITIONS OF FI^AX. 

"Flax, X y. The fibrous plant of which the finest thread is made; the fibre o5r 
flax cleaned and combed, ready for the spinner." [Walkers Dictionary, 1825.I 

"Flax: n. (Saxon, fleax, flex.) i, A plant of the genus hnum, consisting "^^^ a 
single slender stalk , the skin or herl of which is used for making threaid and 
cloth, called Hnen, cambric, lace, &c 2. The skin and fibrous part of the plant 
when broken and cleaned." [Walker's Dictionary, ^829.! 

The flax plant is an annual , growing usually from 18 to 24 inches in h«iight , 
with slender, bright green leaves and pale blue blossoms. 



(From Piiotos by C. H. Robinson, Normal, 111.) 



Small Wheel. 



Reel. 



Flax Hackle. 




Wool Cards and Large Wheel. 

( Illustrated from Specimens in the Museum 
of the McLean County Historical Society, 
viz . the King Small Wheel , the Hinshaw 
Reel and Flax Hackle, and the Orendorff 
Wool Cards and Lsrge Wheel.) 



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March has 31 Days. 



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ear and 

i o'clock 
Ine mild 

) o'clock 
foudy. 
\ o'clock 
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DESCRIPTION AND MORBID EFFECTS OF 
SPURRED RYE. 

Cattsea of tke Spur in Rye^ — One of the most poison- 



Breaking and Scutching Flax , 

From an illustration in tlie "Agricultural Almanac" 
(I^ancaster, Pa.) for the year 1832. 



NAMKS OF PIONEER WOMEN WHO HAVE PRERARED AND SPUN FLAX 
AND wool, AT MEETINGS OF THE MCLEAN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 



Mrs. Priscilla Miller. 
Mrs. Louise Shaeffer. 
Mrs. J. C. Daniel. 
Mrs. F. M. Wertz. 



Mrs. Mary Miller. 
Mrs. Almira Swope. 
Mrs. J. T. Martin. 
Mrs. Mary Kerr. 



Mrs. Mary G. Smith. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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